Best Investor Relations Web Sites Named by Web Marketing Association

Bank of Montreal Wins Best of Show in First Annual Interactive Investor Relations Awards Competition

Boston, MA (PRWEB) July 14, 2004 -- The Web Marketing Association, in partnership with the Wealth Management News Service, is pleased to announce the winners of the first annual Interactive Investor Relations Awards Competition (IIR Awards) for investor-oriented Web site development. Entries competed with peers within more than 50 industry categories as well as against an overall standard of excellence. Sites were judged on design, navigation, ease of use and use of technology to enhance the investors experience as well as specific content criteria relating to investor and financial communication.

"This year's winners demonstrate that it takes more than just a flashy design to have an effective investor Web site," said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. "IIR Award winners are judged not only on design, but with a strong emphasis on content, combined with a high level of functionality and usability for their target audience. Participating in the competition provides management with valuable feedback from expert judges and gives companies an opportunity to measure the effectiveness of their online investor relations efforts."

The 2004 Best of Show iIR Award is presented to the Bank of Montréal (NYSE,TSX: BMO) for their outstanding investor Web site. In the opinion of the competition judges, the site went beyond all others entered in the IIR Awards to provide investors and the financial community access to critical information in a user friendly format. Particularly, peer group comparisons, corporate governance and investor FAQs were sited as contributing to the sites success.

A complete list of the winning sites can be found at the interactive Investor Relations Award Web site at www.iiraward.org .

Other companies recognized for their industry leading investor relations Web sites are:

Winning Site (Exchange:Ticker) Award

adidas-Salomon AG (Frankfurt:ADSG.F) Best Sports IR Site

Allied Capital Corporation (NYSE:ALD) Best Professional Services IR Site

AmeriCredit Corp. (NYSE:ACF) Best Financial Services IR Site

Archstone-Smith Trust (NYSE:ASN) Best Real Estate IR Site

Avaya Investor Briefing Center (NYSE:AV) Outstanding IR Site

Aventis (NYSE:AVEP.PA) Best Pharmaceuticals IR Site

Bank of Montreal (NYSE, TSX:BMO) Best Banking IR Site, Best of Show

Benetton Group S.p.A. (NYSE:BNG US) Best Consumer Goods IR Site

Bowne & Co., Inc. (NYSE:BNE) Outstanding IR Site

CVS Corporation (NYSE:CVS) Outstanding IR Site

Dell Inc (NASDAQ:DELL) Best Computer Hardware IR Site

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Best Retail IR Site

Emmis Communications Corp (NASDAQ:EMMS) Best Media IR Site

FedEx Corp (NYSE:FDX) Best International Business IR Site

Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE:FO) Outstanding IR Site

General Motors (NYSE:GM) Best Automotive IR Site

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) Best Biotechnology IR Site

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) Best Health Care Products IR Site

Keane, Inc. (NYSE:KEA) Outstanding IR Site

Lam Research Corp (NASDAQ:LRCX) Best Manufacturing IR Site

Marine Products Corporation (AMEX:MPX) Best Leisure IR Site

Mattel, Inc. (NYSE:MAT) Outstanding IR Site

McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Best Restaurant IR Site

Nevada Gold and Casinos, Inc. (AMEX:UWN) Best Entertainment IR Site

New York Life Insurance Co. Best Insurance IR Site

NIC (NASDAQ:EGOV) Best Interactive Services/e-Commerce IR Site

Pinnacle West Capital Corp (NYSE:PNW) Best Energy IR Site

Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) Outstanding IR Site

RPC, Inc. (NYSE:RES) Best Oil and Gas IR Site

SAP (NYSE:SAP) Best Computer Software IR Site

Scudder University Best Mutual Funds IR Site

Sealaska Corporation Best Diversified Business IR Site

SI International (NASDAQ:SINT) Outstanding IR Site

Smithfield Foods, Inc. (NYSE:SFD) Best Food Industry IR Site

Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Outstanding IR Site

Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ:SUNW) Best Technology IR Site

Swire Pacific Limited (HKEx:19) Best Conglomerates IR Site

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) Best Beverage IR Site

The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG) Best Personal Care Products IR Site

Unisys (NYSE:UIS) Best Information Services IR Site

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) Best Service Industry IR Site

W.W. Grainger, Inc. (NYSE:GWW) Best Industrial Services IR Site

The interactive Investor Relations Awards are judged by individual and institutional investors, financial advisors, financial media, IR professionals and Web developers. Each site is judged on 35 different criteria, earning a score between 0 and 100 points. The highest score in a given category wins Best of Industry for that category. Remaining entries receiving a score of 80 points or greater receive the Outstanding Web site Award. All entries receive judges' comments and feedback to help participants understand how their entry is viewed and to facilitate improvement.

Sponsors of the 2004 interactive Investor Relations Awards include Barron's and The Wall Street Journal Online, Burrelle's Luce, NewsUSA, O'Dwyer's PR Daily, Sandy Alexander, Inc., Small Army Creative Services and VentureDirect Worldwide.

The Web Marketing Association (WMA) was founded in Boston in 1997 as an organization dedicated to upholding professional standards of excellence in Web development. Members are advertising, marketing, public relations and Web professionals who share an interest in improving the quality of Web communications. Since its inception, the WMA has set the standard of excellence for overall Web site development with the annual WebAward Competition, a premier annual event for Web developers and marketers.

The Wealth Management News Services (WMNS) provides expert commentary and ideas to the financial media. WMNS content is also featured on wealthadvisor.com, a Web site available to high-net-worth financial advisors. Corporate members of the Wealth Management News Service include highly regarded asset management firms and financial advisors.

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